Only Here For A Moment
by MakeACircuitWithMe
Summary: One of our favorite bots learns how to appreciate the little things while stargazing. Prowl, Perceptor, ... INSERT YOUR OWN BOT HERE! NOW WITH HUMAN OC! LMAO!


The night was darker than most; the moon having already faded to new. The air was crisp and the few leaves still clinging to the trees rustled as the breeze danced through them.

The young woman sat on the edge of the boulder, one leg dangling over the edge, the other pulled up against her chest. The wind played with her hair; the occasional tendril needing to be swept from her face by delicate fingers. Her cheeks rosy, she sat on the cold stone and stared into the velvet sky.

"You're not very subtle, ya know," she stated mater-of-factly.

"I wasn't trying to be," the mech said as he approached, the chilled grass crushing beneath his pedes. "What are you doing out here? Half the base has been looking for you."

"Meteor shower."

"Huh?"

"Meteor shower," she said again, pointing into the night sky.

"Oh."

He watched as she pulled her other leg up to fight the chill brushing against her skin. Watched as her bright eyes darted across the night sky; searching. He watched as the rosy glow in her cheeks grew stronger with each gust.

"You know you _could_ watch this on one of the monitors inside. It'd be warmer … and safer."

"But that's not the point of being out here."

"The point of being out here is to become hypothermic?" His voice was tinged with sarcasm.

"No," she said. "The point is to enjoy the world around you. Enjoy the little things that only come by once in a lifetime. Each meteor streaks across the sky in a fiery splendor only once before flickering out – gone forever."

"Yes, I know that's what meteors do."

"Video's not the same – it's just…playback," her tone simple as she spoke. "You can't feel the wind. You can't smell the air. You can't taste the rain. It's not a memory. It's just… _playback_."

"I see," he said as he sat next to her on the rock, feeling just how hard and cold it really was for the first time. He wondered how she could stand to sit on it, to feel its harshness against her soft form. She was indeed an odd creature, but maybe that's why he was drawn to her. "You would prefer to stay out here, and be cold, just so the memory has meaning?"

"Something like that," she said drawing her hands up inside her sleeves.

He watched her as she kept her eyes trained on the night sky. Maybe she was right. Meteors were little lights racing through the darkness of the universe, brightly lit, but only for a few brief moments before they faded away into memories. Even if unintended, it was quite the metaphor for their relationship. The part he preferred not to dwell on.

He cycled in air, expelling it through his vents in a long metallic sigh. She shivered as the warm air drew across her skin, before drifting away.

"C'mere," he said, wrapping a large gunmetal hand around her, pulling her closer to him.

"No!" she protested, "I want to stay and watch. This is supposed to be the best show in years. And Perceptor said there wouldn't be another one like it for at least 50 years, and, well, that's an awful long time to have to wait."

Her words stung at his spark.

"I didn't say you had to go," he whispered, fighting back the static in his vocalizer.

"Good. Cos I wouldn't ya know."

He continued to watch her in silence. Making note of the way her hair blew about in the wind. Committing to memory the outline of her lips, the blush in her cheeks, the light in her eyes. Savoring the way her perfume drifted on the air around her.

"You know that's kinda creepy, don't cha?"

"What is?"

"You. Staring at me like that. I'm not gonna vanish before your optics. You don't need to keep them on me at all times."

"Hmmpphhh… That's why half the base has been looking for you."

"I didn't vanish. I just went out in the backyard for a while."

He couldn't help but snicker at her. He rolled his optics and sighed. She relaxed momentarily in his hand, enjoying the heated air, and shivering again when his warmth left her.

"I don't suppose you bothered to bring a jacket with you?"

"Nah," she replied waving a hand at him. "Where's the fun in that?"

He snickered and shook his helm.

"Oh, and no shoes or socks either, I see."

"Yeah. I wore them out here, but they fell down there somewhere," she replied, pointing a finger to the ravine just below the edge of the boulder.

"What am I supposed to do with you?" he asked, his lips curling into a soft smile.

"Dunno. Smile and nod?" she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

He sighed again, and she shivered again. He wrapped both hands around her and lifted her off the rock.

"Hey! I said I wanted to stay!"

"And you will," he said as he set her down on the warm metal that was his lap, "but I'm gonna make sure you're warm enough."

For the first time since his arrival, she looked away from the night sky, and looked up into his optics. Their soft blue glow warmed her heart as he wrapped his arms around her and lightly caressed her cheek. She returned his smile with her own.

"You gonna help me find 'em?"

"Even if it means we're out here all night," his words gentle as he rested his chincap on the top of her head.

"I'd like that," she replied, leaning back against him, wrapping his fingers tighter around her. Her eyes fluttered as she let his warmth penetrated her to the core. The two of them momentarily lost in peace.

"There goes one!" She sat bolt upright in his lap, pointing at the blue and orange fireball blazing a path just above the horizon. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Mmmm…"

"It's only here for a second and then it's gone forever, but the memory of it … _THAT_ will stay with you forever. "

His lip plates twitched as she smiled sweetly and snuggled back in against him.

_Only for a moment,_ he thought, _but what a beautiful moment._

He kissed the top of her head, and she purred, "Thank you for staying with me."

A sharp pain danced around the edge of his spark as he whispered, "No. Thank _YOU…"_

_._

_._

_._

A/N

I originally wrote this with Prowl in mind, but somewhere along the lines decided it would be better to just leave the mech in question up to the reader. I hope you all enjoyed this bit of bittersweet fluff!

I don't own TF's… I just play around with them.

The OC is mine tho.


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